Our latest cover story looks at common struggles around money and housing and explores some Canadian Christian organizations that offer help.
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A lexa McQuillan knows how easy it is to fall into debt – and how hard it is to climb back out.
McQuillan was working away from her Ontario home – for a Christian nonprofit in Hawaii – when she dislocated her knee. Insurance covered the initial hospital costs, but she was on the hook for physiotherapy afterward. Without cash to pay for it, she put it on her credit card.
Compounding it, when she returned to Canada, health issues prevented her from working for a time. Her credit card bills began to grow until she owed close to $7,000. She was on a very small income and it seemed impossible to pay that off.
With her phone on silent to drown out the debt collector calls, she cried to God for help. "Lord, I don’t even know if you do this, but if there’s a Christian organization that helps people with debt, please let me hear about it," she recalls.
Just days later she heard about Christians Against Poverty, a nonprofit financial organization based in her city of Hamilton, Ont., that helps equip churches to help those struggling with poverty (CAPCanada.org).
Staff at the organization met virtually with her (because it was during the pandemic), talked about what had contributed to the debt and gave her a map out. That path included budget planning and a payback schedule that would lead her to becoming debt-free in about a year. Where she had no hope before, she suddenly was offered some.
Strugglers not alone
Those of us struggling with finances are not alone. Based on data from a 2025 survey, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada reports nearly half of Canadians have lost sleep because of financial stress. A third of Canadians report being short of money at the end of each month.
"Whenever we look at stresses and pressures that people are facing, finance comes right at the top of that list," says Will MacLaughlin, CEO of CAP Canada.
Since it’s a topic that impacts so many people, MacLaughlin believes it’s critical Christians not ignore what’s happening, even as they remind themselves of God’s provision and goodness. He sees it as an opportunity to disciple Christians to lean away from consumerism and toward contentment, and to reach out to those hurting from the weight of debt.
"If we don’t speak into this area, we allow the world to speak into that, and that can be really dangerous when we live in an age of comparison, division, targeted marketing and social media channels that will push a consumer mentality," MacLaughlin says.
CAP offers debt counselling and teaches people how to budget, but a key difference is they start by teaching people to find their identity in Christ and not in a number on a bank statement.
"If budgeting or finances were just about the numbers, we could send everybody a calculator or get them to download an app, and that would be enough. But what we try to do is to journey with people," he says.
Part of the ministry also involves equipping churches who can then offer help to people in their own communities.
There are two programs CAP offers to churches. One is a basic budgeting course to help people learn stewardship principles around money management, saving and spending. A second course is for people feeling overwhelmed by their debt levels.
Relationship based
"We do that with the local church because we want to make sure this is relationship based and it’s connection based," MacLaughlin says. "It means that we have the privilege to lock eyes with people who might be looking at their bank balance, and their bank balance is saying, ‘You’re a failure.’ ‘You’ve let your family down.’ ‘You cannot do this.’ "
They can point those people toward Christ.
"Jesus invites you to come to Him if you’re weary and burdened because He wants to give you rest. He wants you to find rest for your soul."
By offering people hope in Christ to meet their spiritual needs and practical advice to meet their physical needs, those same people who came in despair begin to see a path forward.
"We’ll hear people say, you know, ‘I was in this really dark place. It didn’t feel like there was any way out. And now I can see a way forward,’ " MacLaughlin says.
Some have been so burdened prior to seeking help, they’ve considered suicide, he says. But Jesus "takes those darkest moments and transforms them into beautiful stories of redemption."
Demand for CAP programs is strong in Canada, and there are now a couple of hundred churches trained to offer their basic budgeting course.
McQuillan dealt directly with CAP’s head office in Hamilton during her financial journey. The help she received has allowed her to pay off all her debt and continue budgeting for a strong financial future. For a time she also ended up working for CAP herself, offering the same support she received to others.
She loved being able to share her story with callers.
"To have people care about you and not bring judgment and shame, I think that’s a huge opportunity for people to encounter Jesus," McQuillan says.
Stewards, not owners
There are other organizations and individuals in Canada helping to guide Christians as they manage their resources as well.
Mohny Singh, founder of Roone153 Financial Advisors, spent more than 40 years working in the financial industry in Halifax before moving to Ottawa (Roone153.net). He has felt a mission to teach people biblical principles for managing their money.
One of the first principles he teaches is people should view themselves as stewards and not owners of the resources God has blessed them with.
"And at the end of the day, we’re going to be held accountable as to how we manage those resources God has entrusted us with," he says.
Whether you’re making minimum wage or seven figures, Singh says there are five main topics he tries to impart, which he uses in an acronym:
T Tithes and offerings
I Insurance
D Debt
E Emergency Fund
S Savings
He supports each of those with Scripture references. For instance, when it comes to debt, he might show Proverbs 22:7, which says the borrower is slave to the lender.
On savings, Singh points out how Joseph advised Egypt’s pharaoh to save grain during the years of plenty so they’d have enough for the years of famine as an example to encourage believers to save for difficult times.
When people put these principles into practice, he says, their lives have improved.
Hope for the housing crisis
For many families one of the biggest financial pressures is housing.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, about 35% of low-income households in Canada are spending more than 40% of their disposable income on mortgage or rent.
Rebecca Pousette has studied urban planning and worked for years with organizations involved with addressing housing needs. Currently she is housing manager for Housing Squamish, a nonprofit provider in Squamish, B.C., and talks to people daily struggling to find affordable housing.
"People are barely making their rent, and these are folks who have really good jobs," Pousette says. "These are dual-income families who are literally living paycheque to paycheque. It is actually wild what people are surviving on right now."
She believes it’s important for Christians to not only be aware of this, but also to act. When Jesus said the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love your neighbour, she believes living that out includes helping ensure people have a roof over their heads.
"Honestly, I’m just shocked by people who think it’s not important."
Helping with housing may seem like a monumental task, but Pousette encourages Christians not to discount how big an impact even a small amount of assistance can make. A cartload of groceries might make the difference, for instance, between someone being able to make their rent or not that month.
"Those small things actually deeply matter," she says.
From her experience, Pousette believes there are several ways Christians and churches can be involved directly and indirectly, including offering their support for projects, getting involved with housing support organizations and, when possible, leading projects themselves.
Pousette encourages Christians to support housing projects in their neighbourhoods and reject the not-in-my-backyard stance that often appears when affordable housing is proposed.
She encourages Christians to support housing projects in their neighbourhoods and reject the not-in-my-backyard stance that often appears when affordable housing is proposed.
"I think that churches or Christians are incredibly well placed to speak up on behalf of their neighbours who don’t have as much," she says.
That support could mean showing up to a municipal or community meeting to speak up about the needs of those who lack affordable housing, and being in favour of meeting them with proposed projects.
Often opposition to housing projects is based on misinformation, Pousette says, which is why it’s important for Christians to counteract that by properly educating themselves. For example, sometimes people fear supportive housing will change the character of their neighbourhood or negatively impact property value. Evidence indicates otherwise.
"Never underestimate the power of your voice as a citizen in a democracy," she encourages Christians.
Christians can also have a positive impact by being involved in housing projects such as those led by Habitat for Humanity.
"It’s an incredible witness just to show up and be present to these organizations doing really good work in your community," she says. "I think showing up to these places and being a dependable volunteer or dependable board member is a phenomenal way to engage."
Learning from Vancouver
When Pousette lived in Vancouver, she was involved with a housing project started by Grandview Church called Co:Here that offered mixed-income housing (CoHereHousing.com).
"I think what happened at Grandview was the church really started saying, ‘Who’s our neighbours? What are their needs?’ "
From there they asked two questions: "What do we have?" and "What can we offer?"
They started offering meals from the basement of the church. Through that ministry they saw the need for affordable housing.
"It really kind of came out of, I would say, some collective listening to the Holy Spirit around, ‘What is our call of this church at this particular time in this particular neighbourhood?’ " Pousette says.
Not every church will have the resources or property to replicate that approach, but Pousette encourages churches to pray about the possibilities.
"As a congregant it was very meaningful," she says. "It was amazing to be a part of doing something tangible with other members of the congregation."
Tim Dickau was senior pastor of Grandview Church for 30 years, including the time period when Co:Here was developed. He was able to watch it go from an idea to a 26-unit apartment building. He’s now using the expertise he gained from that leadership experience as director of Citygate (CitygateVancouver.org).
Citygate helps churches engage their neighbourhood to address issues such as food insecurity and housing concerns. Through his work, he’s had the opportunity to speak to church leaders throughout Canada about the needs and opportunities in their own regions.
As he travels and talks, Dickau now offers what happened at Grandview as an example.
"Not every church is suitable for housing development, based on the square footage of its land or where it is located and so forth, but a lot of churches can develop their buildings either for housing or for community benefit," Dickau says.
What they’ve seen is that active churches can use unused land, and churches that may be closing or relocating can ensure their former properties are used in a way that benefits their neighbourhoods. For instance, he knows of one church in New Brunswick that moved to a new location and renovated their old location into a community hub.
While meeting needs is important in and of itself, Dickau said he’s also seen it benefit churches. When the housing is built near the church, it can also open doors for church members to live in the community and engage more closely with their neighbours than if they were simply driving in and out on Sundays.
At Grandview, prior to his departure, Dickau said there were about 300 people attending with 70% in walking distance.
"That building only added to that sense of ‘This is our neighborhood, and we care for it and are responsible for it,’ " he says.
Dickau encourages those who want to explore housing options for their church property to talk to an expert.
"Finding an experienced, skilled consultant to have these conversations within your initial explorations of what’s possible is really important," he says.
Often there are grant opportunities that can help cover the cost of those feasibility studies.
There are lots of examples of different approaches, he says, from churches adding modular homes on excess land to organizations like Indwell, a Christian supportive housing nonprofit that has transformed former church buildings into housing for people in need.
He believes this is the type of work God would want His people to do.
"I think it lies at the heart of caring for the most vulnerable," he says.
Additional resources
Christians Against Poverty is a nonprofit that helps equip churches to help those struggling with poverty (CAPCanada.org). It offers a budgeting course and has a debt help line at 1-855-214-9191.
KingdomAdvisors.com is an association of Christian financial advisors with its own directory of Certified Kingdom Advisors (FaithFi.com/find-a-cka).
Relèven is a Canadian charity that helps preserve, restore and repurpose underused churches into community hubs and affordable housing (Releven.org).
Indwell is a Canadian Christian charity that creates affordable housing communities that support people seeking health, wellness and belonging (Indwell.ca).
Reimagine Church Land Community is a coalition of Christian groups in Canada collaborating to rethink church property usage. It has roots in CityGate Vancouver and its next annual conference is May 19–20, 2026 in Halifax (ReimagineCLC.ca).
Find links to Faith Today articles on personal finance, debt and money at FaithToday.ca/Finances.
Adam MacInnis is a writer in New Glasgow, N.S. Illustrations by Blair Kelly.